The school has undergone many changes in recent years, and one example of this is the changes to logos and apparel. The Blake “brand,” or the way the school portrays itself, is important as the face of the school and the way other schools see us. To further examine the way the “brand” is made up, it is easiest to divide into three parts: Academic, Athletic, and Bearwear.
The Academic: In 2014, Blake, in partnership with Neustadt Creative Marketing, introduced the prominent “BLAKE” wordmark. The motive behind changing the academic logo was to establish a single logo for all Blake academic purposes, creating a clean and uniform brand. Although at the time, students had mixed reviews, the logo is now synonymous with the school and its tradition.
The Athletic: Although it sometimes feels as though Blake athletics has too many logos, Athletic Director Nick Rathmann explained “just ten years ago… there were over one hundred different logos, because each team had its logo, and they would change it year to year.” As part of a branding effort by the Athletic Department, those one hundred plus logos were whittled down to just five, which represent the storied history of athletics at Blake. Rathmann recounted a story that involved Blake playing another private school, who had a student section that looked like a sea of red. Then, Rathmann looked at Blake’s student section, which had multiple different shades of blue and green. Rathmann says “the goal is a uniform look.”
Bearwear: Slightly different than the athletic apparel, “Bearwear” takes on a more stylish and casual look. The apparel is designed and purchased from three vendors that market to high schools and colleges, and all of the logos and designs are supplied by the vendors. Erin Brass, one of the chairs of Bearwear, says that the typical Bearwear customer is “students and adults which includes parents, faculty, and alumni” and that “sales are pretty evenly split between students and adults, especially around homecoming.” One goal that Bearwear hopes to accomplish in the future is student input on designs.
